The world seen through the American news lens: ass backwards

This video came to mind this morning for two reasons: One, listening to RT news I was reminded of the courage of the Russian people in defeating fascism. Here is JFK speaking at American University, June of 1963:

No nation in the history of battle ever suffered more than the Soviet Union suffered in the course of the Second World War. At least 20 million lost their lives. Countless millions of homes and farms were burned or sacked. A third of the nation’s territory, including nearly two-thirds of its industrial base, was turned into a wasteland – a loss equivalent to the devastation of this country east of Chicago.

I do not think I was supposed to learn about World War Two this way, not as an American. The European War started on D-Day. That’s when fearlessness struck at the heart of evil.

The Russians know their own history. They know about fascism. People on the streets of Odessa interviewed by RT speak freely on the neo-Nazis and fascists that have taken control of their country. RT is a Russian propaganda outlet, of course. These days it has more viewers than the American propaganda outlet, CNN.

I also listened to the American propaganda outlet NPR. There I learned that Americans are worried that Russia will try to disrupt the election to be held later this month in Ukraine. That is so typical of American treachery – to disrupt a country, instigate a violent coup d’état, support a reign of terror, and also call for an election. If they like the election outcome, fair or not, it will be a fair election. If they dislike the election outcome, fair or not, it will be ignored.

Which is why this video came to mind of that stupid, stupid movie. As John Wayne and the young boy head down the beach, it is sunset. The only problem is that the Vietnam coastline faces east, so that there is no sunset from that direction. It is ass backwards.

That article just goes to show that the “military-industrial complex” knows no loyalties.

Just spent the morning reading up on the history of the German-Soviet war. Talk about how the american news lens, and american history is so myopic. Fully 80% of WWII (German theater) was fought on the Eastern Front after Hitler pushed 1,000 miles to the east of Berlin in an attempt to take Moscow in 1941 (before we even declared war on Germany).

And this line from the article you link to:

“During the war, the car companies established a reputation for themselves as “the arsenal of democracy” by transforming their production lines to make airplanes, tanks and trucks for the armies that defeated Adolf Hitler.”

…completely ignores the fact that it was the Soviets, at huge human losses, pushed back against Germany for 3 1/2 years, and it was they who overran Berlin from the east, causing Hitler to commit suicide, and sealing Germany’s defeat.

It is amazing how our american exceptionalism is built on two factors: claiming the USSR’s victory as our own, and the ability to drop nuclear bombs and kill hundreds of thousands in fell swoops.

My SO’s German father spent years in a Soviet concentration camp, and we are just beginning to understand how it all played out. The parts of the Soviet-German war concerning how the land between their current borders (like Ukraine) have been staging grounds for countless acts of war helps lead to an understanding of what is occuring there now.

Unfortunately, growing up in america, our history books never accurately tell the story of Hitler and Stalin (and/or our schools never teach that part of WWII), preparing fertile minds for the next round of propaganda that is deluging us.

Oh yeah, and this friday, May 9th, is the Russian “Victory Day” celebrating the surrender of Germany. 69 years later, the holiday has been reinvigorated by Putin as the country’s largest and most popular holiday.

“Fighter jets screamed over Red Square and heavy tanks rumbled over its cobblestones Thursday as Russia flexed its military muscle on the anniversary of its costly victory over Nazi Germany in World War II…

The tradition has been given extra fanfare by President Vladimir Putin — an ardent nationalist whose patriotic fervour has helped him win strong backing from the middle class.

The Victory Day parades have expanded during Putin’s 13 years in power to include heavy intercontinental missiles and Tu-95 bombers that can easily reach the shores of the United States…

The 68th anniversary of what Russia still calls The Great Patriotic War included 11,000 soldiers marching in lockstep to a military band…

The Russian leader — his macho image boosted by periodic televised spins in fighter jets and new tanks.”

Without the USSR’s military might, western Europe and Russia would have fallen to the Germans. Would the U.S. have paid the human toll to prevent that? What if/when Hitler launched his planned attacks on the U.S. mainland?

How quickly the exceptionalists forget who saved Europe’s and our asses.

I have to say I am surprised at how vicious the anti-Russian propaganda is, as if something very big is at stake. This is not something to take lightly, not just another day in the life of the empire. Something big appears to be cooking.

How to shift budget cuts away from war spending and attack programs that directly benefit the sniveling middle-class, senior citizens, unemployed and working poor. Redeploy U.S. and NATO Afghan combat soldiers into permanent bases in Eastern Europe and rev up the next big war. The proxy wars aren’t getting the job done — nobody at home gets it or wants it. Looks like the “Bush Doctrine” and the “Powell Doctrine” have been scrapped for the Nuland Doctrine: “F*** the EU” and it’s all Russia’s fault Empire is crashing down more mysteriously, and faster, than the Twin Towers. Hope for the best, plan for the worst. We tried anemic “liberal stimulus,” and look where that got us, now it’s time to let the neolibersls and neo-cons “rebuild our economy” and “create jobs.” Vote for Walsh or Daines, heads they win, tails you lose.